Kettles with thermostatic controls are already well known. One form of thermostatic control is mandatory for kettles in many parts of the world. This is the thermostat which cuts power when a kettle without any water in it is plugged in or switched on, or when the kettle has boiled dry. The heating element rapidly heats the metal base of the water chamber to a very high temperature, and the thermostat senses this high temperature and responds by cutting power to the element.
Another form of thermostat in kettles of this kind is intended to cut power to the element after water in the chamber has been brought to boil. It is known to provide a conduit, typically in the form of a copper tube, from a location above the surface of the water in a filled kettle to a location adjacent a thermostat which is adapted to cut power to the element when it senses the high temperature due to the steam. It will be appreciated that the steam must be allowed to pass by the thermostat, and that the conduit bringing the steam to the thermostat cannot be blind or closed, otherwise the steam temperature would not reach the thermostat. Thus, in the known kettles having this latter kind of thermostat, the steam is simply allowed to pass adjacent the thermostat and then to exit from the kettle into the ambient air. In these known kettles, one can readily see the location where the steam is escaping after having passed by the thermostat. Such a construction has three prominent disadvantages. The first is that the user, when seeing the steam blowing out of the kettle at a location other than the spout, may think that the kettle is defective or is malfunctioning in some way. The second disadvantage relates to the high temperature of the escaping steam, and the danger this presents to the user.
A third disadvantage relates to the risk that the escaping steam will condense on a table surface or other nearby surface, thus causing staining, marking or warping.